Celia Casado wanted to be an involved parent. She wanted to help her kids with their homework.

She had one problem. The mother of three didn’t speak English.

That was last fall. Now, the Lawrence resident is able to practice sounds of English letters with her daughter. She can point out grammatical errors in her children’s homework — thanks to a program at Sunnyside Elementary School of International Studies and the two teachers who work extra hours to teach Casado and other parents how to speak English.

The program is funded by a three-year $390,000 grant from the United Way of Central Indiana, school Principal Erica Buchanan said. Twenty-five Spanish-speaking parents have signed up to attend after-school classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week.

Carrie McClelland, one of the two English as a Second Language teachers, said that Lawrence’s growing Hispanic population makes teaching parents English more important than ever. Hispanics make up more than 11 percent of the city’s population of 46,000 — up from 4.7 percent in 2000.

“Our goal is for them to mainly be able to communicate with their kids, help them with a little bit of homework,” McClelland said, “and then also be in communication with the teachers so they feel involved.”

Leslie Snoke, the other ESL teacher, said students whose parents are involved in their education are more likely to become successful academically.

“Those parents who ask questions can help their children better,” Snoke said. “Those parents who do not just accept ‘I don’t have any homework?’ but actually call the teachers and ask ‘Did he actually have homework?’”

Casado and others have been learning about vocabulary and pronunciations since the classes began in September. They also learn sentences and phrases they can use to talk to their children about their homework or to their kids’ teachers about how they’re doing.

“We try to tailor our lessons to what our parents actually need,” Snoke said. “They don’t necessarily pick it up by hearing people say things, like kids do. They need phrases they can memorize and put to use when they go out.”

McClelland and Snoke said they have been seeing improvements among parents. Snoke said she had to translate a lot in the beginning. Now, the classes are taught mostly in English.

“The shyness has definitely decreased,” Snoke said. “People are much more willing to share.”

Casado said she wants to be able to talk to people on her own, without a translator. She decided to learn English not only for her kids, but for herself. She wants to talk to her boss in English. She wants to understand people at the grocery store.

She said she will always be grateful to McClelland and Snoke for the work they do.

“I learn a lot from them,” Casado said. “I really appreciate everything they do for me.”